Star halfback Luke Brooks is still kicking himself five days after shanking an extra-time field-goal attempt that would have given Wests Tigers a confidence-building NRL victory over Canterbury.
Brooks pushed the shot wide, before Bulldogs playmaker Moses Mbye kicked true to give last year's grand finalists a 25-24 golden point win, after they led 24-6 with 20 minutes to go at ANZ Stadium last Friday.
The young Tigers outfit under new coach Jason Taylor need to learn quickly from the loss, especially how to close out games, says Brooks, starting with Easter Monday's clash with Parramatta.
"I have definitely been thinking about that missed field goal a bit. I need to do a bit of practice on the training field for that," Brooks said at training on Thursday.
"We need to do work on getting set for the field goal, and landing it.
"That all comes from experience, we will learn a lot from that loss.
"But we just have to learn how to finish out a game. We were up by 18 with 20 minutes to go and we definitely should have won."
The Tigers have impressed early under Taylor, but have only wins over Gold Coast and St George Illawarra for their efforts, despite pressing the Bulldogs and the week before South Sydney.
The Easter Monday showdown, before an anticipated 50,000 fans, shapes as crucial for both sides. Parramatta are also 2-2 after a month of football.
"They have gone well this year, coming off a big win, the first team to beat Souths so they are definitely in some form," Brooks said.
"They have a good forward pack and off the back of that Chrissy Sandow is playing really well.
"He is looking pretty trim and pretty quick as well, that is a good test for us.
"He can be so unpredictable at times."
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